Fragrance vinegars (aromatic vinegars) are fermented foods that are typically produced by the fermentation of glutinous rice followed by aging for a long period, and have been used as vinegar seasonings in China from a long time ago. The fragrance vinegars have also become increasingly popular in Japan in recent years as health foods that help maintain or promote health, because of their higher contents of organic compounds such as amino acids than those of rice vinegars, which are vinegars generally used in Japan.
For example, the present inventors disclose, in Patent Literature 1, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α activator and a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ activator each containing a lower alkanol extract of fragrance vinegar as an active ingredient. This literature states that the lower alkanol extract of a fragrance vinegar exhibits the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α-activating effect of improving sugar metabolism by participating in the stimulation of fatty acid oxidation and mediating effects on serum lipids as well as the PPARγ-activating effect of bringing about, for example, decreases in blood glucose level and lipids in blood by participating in the differentiation of fat cells.